British Peer Lord Alf Dubs
British Lord Alf Dubs, a Labour Peer and who as a child was one of the hundreds of Jewish children saved by the Kindertransport rescue efforts, has called on the government of the United Kingdom to take in the approximately 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees currently in continental Europe, in addition to the government’s already stated intentions of resettlement child refugees from camps in the Middle East.
Lord Dubs was born in Prague, and was among the more than nine hundred Jewish children saved from Nazi occupation through the efforts of the British humanitarian, the late Sir Nicholas Winton.
Commenting on the humanitarian catastrophe created by the wars in the Levant, the Jewish Chronicle quotes Lord Bubs;
“They are mainly from Syria and face a cold winter without adequate food or warmth and are vulnerable to child traffickers and the danger of being forced into prostitution.
“This is a humanitarian challenge which we must not shirk.
Reports have been circulating in the media on fears that as many as 10,000 child refugees may be missing in Europe, with Europol warning that some European gangs could very well have targeted vulnerable minors for sex work and slavery.
Many prominent Jewish organizations and individuals in the United Kingdom have come out strongly and publicly in support of the resettlement of child refugees to the UK, a charitable attitude that stands in stark contrast to the unforgiving and unsympathetic view across the Atlantic among some American politicians, with one presidential candidate voicing his objection to allowing even “five year old Syrian orphans” asylum in the USA.
To read the original article from the Jewish Chronicle, click here.
